Discussing the progressive election night wins with the Working Families Party’s Anusha Venkataraman
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| The WFP’s Anusha Venkataraman addresses the crowd at Riffraff |
The day after David Morales’ historic Democratic Primary win in the Providence Mayoral race, I sat down with Anusha Venkataraman, the Rhode Island State Director of the Working Families Party (RIWFP). The RIWFP is celebrating a wave of primary victories that “mark a generational shift in Rhode Island politics, as working-class champions won across the ballot.”
Alongside Morales, the RIWFP helped House District 7
candidate Amy Santiago sail to victory, as well as Providence City
Council candidates Miguel Martinez Youngs (Ward 1), Yulyana Torres
(Ward 3), Jackie Goldman (Ward 5), AnnaJane Yolkien (Ward 13), Justin
Roias (Ward 4), and Miguel Sanchez (Ward 6). Every RIWFP-endorsed
candidate in Providence won their primary.
The following has been edited for clarity:
Anusha Venkataraman: We’re so excited to sweep our
Providence races, and some races we thought would be close didn’t end up close.
The closest ones were incumbents. Overall, incumbents didn’t do well statewide,
and the incumbents who did win had the Progressive Coalition’s backing. We saw
that in Providence, and we saw it with our other incumbents statewide who also
faced challenges from the business lobby.
Steve Ahlquist: The League
of RI Businesses didn’t win any races. That’s a lot of money they
flushed down the toilet. That makes me feel pretty good; you shouldn’t be able
to game the system and win races.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, Steve is right to point out how badly LORIB was beaten in their attempt to game the Democratic Primary, but they're not quite done. They have a number of candidates they are backing in the November 3 General Election, especially in South County. These include incumbent MAGA Senator Elaine Morgan, and MAGA challengers to state Reps. Carol McEntee, Kathy Fogarty and Megan Cotter. Sen. Victoria Gu, who represents the southern half of Charlestown, faces a LORIB-backed MAGA guy she's already beaten twice.
We need to help Sam Wilcox unseat Elaine Morgan and we must defeat the remaining LORIB acolytes. - Will Collette
Anusha Venkataraman: David Morales ran a really high-caliber campaign and was able to leverage and access resources, people, and thought leaders from within our state, because we have those resources, and outside our state. That will continue during this transition period.
What we saw on election night was a sea change for our
state. We’re a state where change can be hard, and we’ve reached the point
where people have stood up and said enough is enough, including working people,
families, and folks who for too long have felt unrepresented by the people in
office. Incumbents were vulnerable to this people power of organizing, taking
to the streets, knocking doors, and making phone calls; all the hard work that
goes into campaigns and all the hard work that goes into building power for
working people.
It was incredible that we were able to sweep our races in
Providence the way that we did. It honestly wasn’t as close as we expected. It
was decisive. It was clear. The turnout numbers alone show how much untapped
potential our electorate has. So many people needed to see their needs and
interests reflected in a campaign. They needed to feel like a candidate was
there for them, building a Providence for All, building a city that will work
for working people.
That’s instructive to the rest of the state because
Providence may be seen as one of the most leftist parts of our state, but it’s
not the only one. We didn’t endorse in the Pawtucket mayor’s race, but we have
many Pawtucket reps and state senators we are looking forward to working with
to see how we can build on the wins in Providence and start building now for
two years from now.
What happened in Providence was a deep, broad coalition that
came together fully unified, committed to not standing in each other’s way, and
doing what we all do best. We all had our parts to play in those races, and we
can do that in other communities too.
Anusha Venkataraman: They didn’t pick up any seats.
We picked up House District 22. Zakary
Pereira also had a good coalition behind him. It also helps that he is
part of the labor movement. [Editor: Pereira is going after the House seat
vacated by Joseph Solomon, who made an unsuccessful play for Attorney
General.]
Overall, we saw that people were ready for change. Elected
leaders will listen to what matters to people and what’s affecting their lives,
including affordability. From our perspective, housing is a big part of the
story here, but it’s not the whole story. Affordability is also about utility
costs, child care, and more. That’s why homeowners may struggle to afford the
homes they have owned for many years.
These are all things we know a unified city council, mayor,
and more fantastic elected officials at the state level can tackle together.
Not to mention, we’ll continue to face revenue challenges in our state, so
their leadership will be critical. I expect we’ll continue pushing to tax the
rich and make sure we have economic and housing policies that work for working
people.
Steve Ahlquist: I agree. If it weren’t for what was going on in Providence, I would have been in Pawtucket doing more on that mayoral race because it was so interesting. Adam Greenman is more centrist than Morales, but he has good ideas. He will work hard for the city and end the constant buzz of corruption that seems to emanate from City Hall (or what used to be City Hall, since the previous administration left the building to rot). It would be nice if the city could have a council that supports some of the new mayor’s efforts.
Anusha Venkataraman: There are possibilities there.
I’m looking forward to working with folks in Pawtucket to identify who can run
for council in a few years. I think Pawtucket’s communities are ripe for more
support to self-organize. Overall, our state lacks infrastructure and money to
support organizing. Some of that has been galvanized in Providence on
shoestring budgets.
We could invest more in keeping our coalitions together and
ensuring the power we’ve built is durable. WFP has a lot of these tools we can
bring in from other states. I’m excited to do more of that over the next few
years.
Steve Ahlquist: Does winning here bring in more
national money to support an effort like that? Are people looking at Rhode
Island and saying, “Rhode Island is a place to invest in bigger, better, newer
ideas!”
Anusha Venkataraman: I hope so. We’ll need to keep
making that case. Visibility doesn’t automatically translate to money; you’ve
got to put in the work to make that happen, but I hope it does. I also hope it
means local funders and local donors will think about where they’re investing
their money. As I’m sure you know, we don’t have a strong track record of
donating to causes in general in our state, whether it’s nonprofits, charities,
or political work, unless you’re a wealthy corporate real estate person.
Steve Ahlquist: Those guys seem to have all the
money.
Anusha Venkataraman: Yeah, they have all the money.
They donate at high levels. But other folks, like in David’s campaign, make
small-dollar donations. People did what they could. But I think there is an
in-between of folks who can contribute more than we want to make sure we’re
tapping into. Organizing donors is as much about getting them excited and
engaged about where their investment goes. It’s certainly something we’re
talking about, planning for, and hoping will translate, but it will take a
little time.
We’ve also gotten some good feedback in this primary cycle
on what works and what unique tools WFP can bring to the table. It certainly
worked when we could provide hands-on assistance to campaigns to help them
build skills, get trained, and engage not only with our members, volunteers,
and other organizations that brought out their volunteers, but also develop
their own volunteer base and do that effectively. We can support campaigns, but
they also need to be able to stand on their own. Those are the tools we can
bring to the table.
We also bring know-how on recruiting candidates and finding
folks who would be a good fit for elected office. That was a priority for me
when I first started in this role earlier this year. I want more time to do
that over the next few years because some districts could use better
representation, and we can find people.
Steve Ahlquist: I constantly ask people to consider
running. Even if I don’t know what they could run for, I tell people to
consider it. Yulyana
Torres, who just won her Ward 3 Providence City Council race, is a good
example. I asked her to consider running.
Anusha Venkataraman: She’s amazing. We have a strong
council class coming in. They may not have experience as electeds yet, but they
all have unique experiences and skills that round each other out.
Steve Ahlquist: I’m very excited about building that
base of younger people ready to move into higher office down the road. I’ll be
old and done, but they’ll be ready to step into power. I really want that.
Anusha Venkataraman: No doubt. We’re going to have
new dynamics on city council: a new council president and a council and mayor
who can work hand in hand rather than block each other.
Steve Ahlquist: This is hard work, because we’re
asking people who run for council to take on a second full-time job.
Anusha Venkataraman: It’s well more than the number
of hours people are compensated for. That’s something I’ve been thinking and
talking about with some folks: What kind of systems change has to happen to
make it easier for the champions we need to run for office actually to run? It
shouldn’t be just people who have the time and money to spare.
And this goes for the city and state level. And in the State
House, there isn’t necessarily enough staff support or enough support around
committees. They technically have some policy staff, but not quite enough to
move ambitious agendas forward. They need stronger staff infrastructure.
Anusha Venkataraman: This coalition of the left that
made this sweep possible: What does that look like when we move into the
governing phase? That’s when we’ll have the opportunity to deliver on these
wins and deliver rent stabilization for the city and beyond.
Steve Ahlquist: What is beyond? What kinds of things
is the new government going to do?
Anusha Venkataraman: What policies do we want to
explore? I think that’s going to take time to articulate clearly, but I pointed
earlier to priorities for working families. We need housing affordability, and
rent stabilization is crucial, but it’s not the only tool.
Steve Ahlquist: David said that last night. Rent
stabilization is one tool. We still need to build more housing.
Anusha Venkataraman: Housing instability is important
and complex. I spent many years working in that area. I’m an urban planner by
training. There won’t be a neat solution. Rent stabilization will help, but
we’ll still need more affordable housing in the city. We need to protect people
from evictions by landlords who will try to push them out illegally.
We have to address utility costs and other rising prices.
Our schools need equitable investment at the state level, and we have a lot to
deal with at the city leadership level. That’s another reason why it’s exciting
that the Providence Teachers Union is behind David and wants to work
with the mayor and the City Council to improve schools. That should be a huge
story.
Steve Ahlquist: From what I hear, changes are coming
to the school committee as well.
Anusha Venkataraman: We will need a plan for jobs,
economic opportunity, and building with organized labor to make sure we have
more good jobs for people in Rhode Island and in Providence. Access to
childcare is a statewide problem, and the city and state can and should do more.
We also need to expand protections for workers around sick leave and paid
leave, which we’ve had incredible wins on in the past, but there’s still more
to do.
That’s just a little bit of what’s on my mind, as we’re
leaning into working people having power. And that power is growing. We have
the power to elect people into office who will be responsive to people’s needs,
and they’ll have to keep listening to and building with people across the city
and state to do that well and effectively. We’re excited to govern with folks
and help folks stay connected to the governing that happens. David has been so
effective in how he uses social media.
Steve Ahlquist: And I expect that to continue.
Anusha Venkataraman: Yes. Too often government seems
like something that happens behind closed doors, but what would it look like to
govern with the people on the streets every day? That would be a new way for a
city to work, and David can lead the way nationally.
Steve Ahlquist: Very cool. I love that. I’d like to
see childcare provided at city council meetings. They could set up in the
Alderman’s room right next to the City Council chambers. Then anyone who comes
to a meeting will know their kids are being cared for while parents go to
meetings, testify, and engage. It would open up the possibility of young
families being politically engaged.
Anusha Venkataraman: I’m on the Art and City Life
Commission, and sometimes bring my son to those meetings, but he’s just
sitting by himself watching TV in the corner. To have actual child care...
Steve Ahlquist: How old is he?
Anusha Venkataraman: He’s four.
Steve Ahlquist: I have a four-year-old granddaughter.
Steve Ahlquist: I think the current Speaker of the
House, Christopher Blazejewski, should be looking at John Goncalve’s
race, which happened in his district, and maybe think about what he might want
to do about taxing the rich. Of the two ideas on offer for taxing the rich last
session, he literally invented a weaker third option. Given the populist
economic mandate signaled during this election, Speaker Blazejewski might want
to rethink that. We’ll see.
Anusha Venkataraman: And we have a new governor. We
didn’t endorse in the governor or lieutenant governor’s race, but the budget
process and our priorities will change next year.
Steve Ahlquist: Helena Foulkes, who I’m assuming will
be the next Governor, mentioned the line-item veto on election night, which I
think would be a mistake. A line-item veto allows the General Assembly to pass
and take credit for crowd-pleasing budget items they know the Governor will
veto. There’s a logic to passing the budget as a whole, even when I don’t
always like the outcome.
Anusha Venkataraman: She said that during her
election-night speech?
Steve Ahlquist: While she was taking her victory lap,
yeah. It stood out to me because that’s a minority-party idea. Speaker
Blazejewski has already signaled that he’s open to such ideas: upon becoming
Speaker, he immediately embraced the Inspector General proposal, for example.
If we give Foulkes a line-item veto, the General Assembly will pass all sorts
of progressive-sounding ideas, knowing she’ll veto them. The General Assembly
can then appear to move left without giving up anything.
I also worry about the state passing preemption clauses
and laws. When Providence was considering raising the minimum wage
municipally, the state took action to preempt the city’s ability to do that.
So what’s next? How are the general elections looking?
Anusha Venkataraman: We have more elections that we
want to win. We are super excited about Veronicka
Vega in Woonsocket.
Steve Ahlquist: I interviewed
her. She’s great.
Anusha Venkataraman: I saw that. It’s an interesting
district and a city that gets a little forgotten about. Better representation
and some organizing attention will help with that. The times that we’ve gone
out door-knocking with her, folks are almost not used to people coming to the
door for political reasons. There’s a lot more to do for her to win that race.
Steve Ahlquist: You’re also backing Nelly
Burdette. I interviewed her too.
Anusha Venkataraman: She is running an incredibly
strong campaign.
Steve Ahlquist: When I spoke to her, she seemed to
want it. She’s smart too. I really enjoyed our conversation.
Anusha Venkataraman: She’s been thinking about it for
a while. Some of our WFP legislators helped convince her to run, so she’s been
on our radar for a little bit. Running for office is an incredible personal
sacrifice. You have to be ready to put in the work. She’s already putting in so
much work.
Steve Ahlquist: All the stuff we’re talking about,
housing, education, protecting people from ICE, and so much more - it’s
no longer pie-in-the-sky. It’s the floor.
Anusha Venkataraman: I was thinking about that at the
party last night, of not being in a room with a ceiling, like the courtyard
outside Riffraff actually, physically, and literally has no ceiling.
Steve Ahlquist: It’s not a feeling I’m used to. I am
reeling from last night. This has been a great conversation.